The present invention relates to vehicle suspension systems and, more specifically, to suspension systems for tandem axles which are particularly useful in rugged environments, such as at off-road construction sites.
Numerous suspension systems exist for supporting the weight of trucks together with the payload being carried by the truck.
A number of known designs utilize so-called walking beams, one on each side of a vehicle and positioned below the axles in combination with a cross-tube extending between the walking beams at a low point of the suspension. These designs suffer from a number of disadvantages, such as increased weight and low ground clearance.
Other designs utilize mechanically complex constructions which add to the expense of the designs.
In certain designs, to provide adequate clearance for the suspension system, the frame rails are supported at a relatively high elevation resulting in a vehicle with an increased ride height. This tends to adversely affect the stability of the vehicle.
In some known designs, it is difficult to replace components of the designs. In other designs, entire subassemblies must be replaced even though only a few components of the subassembly have worn out. This makes repairs more difficult and/or more expensive.
It is also often desirable in vehicles operated in rugged environments to provide reduced resistence to cross articulation and vertical articulation of the axles. Cross articulation is a condition where one axle is angled at one angle relative to horizontal, and the other axle is angled at an opposite angle relative to horizontal. Vertical articulation is where one axle is at a higher elevation than the other axle of the tandem pair.
The present invention relates to a vehicle suspension system and method which is directed toward overcoming these and other disadvantages of the prior art. The invention is not limited to a vehicle suspension system which overcomes all of the above disadvantages of known systems, as the present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the disadvantages of known systems.